Col. Elizabeth R. Smith, Jr.

Colonel Elizabeth R. Smith, Jr., first female lawyer to receive the rank of army colonel, who served with distinction, is selected to join Estill County’s Hall of Honor. In 1975 she was recognized as a living example of how far women lawyers had come in the army and is Irvine’s own JAG superstar way before the television drama series of the same name spotlighted these women. Elizabeth Ratliff Smith, Jr. is the daughter of the late R.W. Smith, Jr. and the late Elizabeth R. Smith. She grew up in Irvine and went to the University of Kentucky and majored in history and political science where she earned her BA Degree in 1948. She also earned her Law Degree in 1950. A career in Law was a combination of heredity and aptitude it seems, for her late father was a police judge and Mayor in Irvine and her grandfather was a Circuit Court Judge. Her mother served as postmistress in Irvine for 28 years until her retirement in 1964. After obtaining her Law Degree, Col. Smith went into private practice with an older attorney in Irvine, but motivated by patriotism during the Korean War, soon decided to join the Army, although she had no guarantee her legal training would be of any help to her. She entered the Army in 1951 as a second lieutenant, serving originally, not as a lawyer, but as a WAC executive officer and commander. She did no legal work at all for her first three years in the Army. When she did, it was only because they were desperate for lawyers in the Northern Area Command in Frankfurt, Germany and she was there, so she was assigned to the Office of the Staff Judge Advocate, where she served for 1954 to 1957. She attended the basic course for Judge Advocate General Corps officers in 1957 but did not have another legal assignment until 1959. It was not until 1961 that she was actually detailed to the Judge Advocate General Corps, one of the first three women to enter the Corps. She then served as assistant to the director of the Academic Department, Judge Advocate Advanced General’s School, attended the Judge Advocate Advanced Course, and served in the Personnel Law Branch, Military Affairs Division, Office of the Judge Advocate General, DA, Washington, and then as the Command Legal Counsel, US Army Recruiting Command. The US Army Recruiting Command is responsible directly to the Department of the Army for operation of five recruiting regions and consisting of 57 district recruiting commands in the continental United States, Alaska, Puerto Rico and Hawaii and for operation of the US Army Recruiting Support Center, Cameron Station, Virginia. The Command is responsible for recruiting men and women for voluntary enlistment in the Regular Army. It was here that Col. Smith was recognized with the Legion of Merit and the Legion of Merit (First Oak Leaf Cluster) for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and was promoted to full Colonel in July of 1972, at the time the first woman lawyer to be so honored in the US Army. Quoting for her Legion of Merit commendation: Colonel Smith had demonstrated exemplary initiative, perseverance, unique legal ability, dynamic leadership and competence. Guided by the highest standards of integrity and her unwavering determination to provide the US Army Recruiting Command with the best possible legal advice, she has worked tirelessly and devised numerous innovative procedures to handle the complex legal problems facing the Command. As the first legal advisor to the Recruiting Command, she created and implemented numerous procedures to organize and administer the legal aspects of both induction and enlistment processing…Her extraordinary capabilities in legal research and interpretation of governing regulations, policies, and procedural guidelines enabled her to consistently identify and resolve problematic issues and ably provide expert advice to not only the Headquarters, but also to the 145 subordinate units seeking her advice. Colonel Smith’s personal contribution to the Command’s daily operational continuity during periods of rapid reorganization and expansion have been numerous and of inestimable value. She continually fostered a spirit of mutual cooperation and understanding of significant legal development at all echelons of command and has greatly facilitated the successful accomplishment of the Command’s mission. Colonel Smith distinguished performance of duty through this period represents outstanding achievements in the most cherished traditions of the United States Army and reflects the utmost credit upon herself and the military service.